Kenneth Ayebare, Director of Transport and Logistics at Private Sector Foundation Uganda, speaks on how the National Logistics Platform transformed Uganda’s logistics sector. “Transport and logistics are the backbone of the economy. Every sector relies on it. Without an efficient logistics system, trade slows, businesses struggle, and economies suffer,” states Kenneth Ayebare, Director, Transport and Logistics, Private Sector Foundation Uganda. For years, Uganda’s transport and logistics sector operated in silos and was characterised by slow decision-making. “Businesses often had to write to multiple ministries and navigate time-consuming administrative processes just to resolve a clearance issue,” recalls Kenneth Ayebare, Director of Transport and Logistics at the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU). “There was no central body to champion the sector’s needs.” That changed in 2018, following the establishment of the National Logistics Platform (NLP) under PSFU with support from Finland and Netherlands through TradeMark Africa. The NLP brought the public and private sector to the same table to coordinate reforms, solve logistics bottlenecks, and influence high level decisions, faster. And it worked, as the NLP soon became a unified voice for logistics stakeholders. One of its early wins was securing a seat at the top management level in Uganda’s Ministry of Works and Transport giving logistics actors direct engagement and access to influence policy and Government decision making. “By bringing all stakeholders to one table, decision-making in transport and logistics became much faster,” said Anna Nambooze, TMA Country Director for Uganda and South Sudan. “When the private sector and government sat...

United Republic of Tanzania, Zanzibar, 25 June 2024: The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation and TradeMark Africa, has announced a four-year fisheries program to be implemented across seven countries to enable over 240,000 work opportunities and boost trade in fish and fish products by about $100 million by 2028. The “Women and Youth Economic Empowerment in Fisheries” program will enhance the participation of women and youth in fisheries in line with the adopted AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade. This announcement was made during the 14th Meeting of the Council of Ministers responsible for Trade in Zanzibar. The program is designed to address structural challenges women and youth face when participating in the fisheries value chain. It will offer training, facilitate access to markets and finance, catalyze supply chain linkages, create digital solutions, simplify trade regimes, enhance compliance to standards and enable streamlined cross-border market access. The program is a culmination of work between the AfCFTA Secretariat and the Mastercard Foundation. This work started with the development of the AfCFTA private sector strategy, where priority value chains were identified to boost intra-Africa trade and production. TradeMark Africa will implement the program to benefit Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Nigeria and selected Island states. Africa’s fisheries sector plays a major role in food security and the economic well-being for millions of households, with the World Bank noting that the...

May 20, 2024, Athi River, Kenya – The world’s first green industrial garment factory has broken ground in Athi River EPZ, with a $530,000 investment from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and a $1.3 million loan from Trade Catalyst Africa (TCA). This new warehouse spans 5,000 sqm and is poised to be the world’s first sustainable garment factory constructed using upcycled containers. Already under construction, the green textile center will be completed by December 2024. With its innovative construction, and use of solar energy and rainwater harvesting, the new garment and textile center is expected to save an estimated 18 tons of CO2 annually. It will also conserve 1,000 m3 of water annually, highlighting the potential for sustainability in industrial design. In addition to USAID and TCA funding, the new factory is a joint venture with Modular Real Estate EPZ Limited (MODULAR), a subsidiary of Container Technology Limited (CONTECH). "This investment presents a great opportunity to build scalable and sustainable industrial space for garment manufacturing and symbolizes our dedication to environmental stewardship," said Duncan Onyango, CEO of Trade Catalyst Africa. "By pioneering this unique industrial space, we are setting a new standard for the garment industry, positioning Kenya and Africa as leaders in sustainable manufacturing." Duncan added that TCA is dedicated to fostering sustainable development through innovative industrial and infrastructure projects, rooted in partnerships with leading organizations and leveraged on cutting edge technologies to drive Africa’s economic growth. The global textiles market, valued at approximately US$1.5 trillion...

Kenya trade agencies, backed by TradeMark Africa (TMA), with funding from international partners like the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) in Kenya, are making headway in refining import and export processes. These enhancements are making trade quicker and more cost effective, benefiting traders across the nation and the region. A recent mission assessing the impact of the partnership established. TMA, FCDO Team at the Inland Container Depot in Nairobi on 30th April, 2024 During a recent visit to the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and the Inland Container Depot (ICDN) in Nairobi, Officials from TMA and FCDO alongside representatives from KEBS and Kenya Ports Authority, assessed the impact of projects at KEBS laboratories and the Inland Container Depot (ICDN) in Nairobi which are designed to assure product quality and cargo management. The mission noted key achievements over the last five years such as the digitalisation of trade systems. The implementation of the Integrated Customs Management System (iCMS), along with initiatives like the East African Community (EAC) Single Customs Territory, and the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS) have cut cargo dwell times at the ICDN by over 30%. These upgrades have eased congestion at the Port of Mombasa, facilitating a smoother flow of goods through Kenya’s Northern Corridor. In collaboration with TMA, funded by the FCDO, KEBS implemented the Legal and Regulatory Review and Capacity Development project. Through this, it modernised its laboratories, acquired advanced equipment, and trained staff on market surveillance and SMEs on trust but also...

Customs valuation is the process of determining the value of goods for the purpose of assessing the amount of taxes and duties they should be charged Nairobi, 03 May 2024: The Kenya Revenue Authority and the United Kingdom (UK) have partnered to streamline the Customs valuation process to make it more efficient, transparent, consistent, and predictable. This will reduce disputes, ensure faster clearance of goods for businesses, and create a level playing field. This process is also expected to boost Government revenues, resolve issues of trade based money laundering, and contribute to safeguarding consumers from unsafe and counterfeit products. As part of this enhancement, KRA with funding channelled through TradeMark Africa, by the UK trained over 2200 people involved in import of goods. The two month-long activity convened customs staff, clearing agents, and traders from Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret, Busia, Malaba, Namanga, and Moyale to improve their understanding of valuation rules and enhance their awareness on recent updates to the system. Commenting on the continued partnership between KRA and the UK, the British High Commissioner to Kenya Neil Wigan said “Kenya is at the heart of East African trade.  We want that trade to operate at maximum efficiency, to benefit businesses and consumers across Kenya and East Africa. The UK and Kenya are working together in partnership to provide high quality infrastructure, which will deliver growth for Kenya and the region. We go far when we go together.” The funding for the project is part of the UK Government’s work to...

In a significant boost to Rwanda's export sector, TradeMark Africa's 10-year Export Development Programme (EDP), launched in 2012, has nurtured over five new million-dollar exporters. Funded by USAID, UKaid, and the Finnish Government, the programme aimed to increase Rwanda's exports by 17% annually, focusing on high-potential sectors like horticulture, ICT, and crafts. By the end of 2022, the EDP targeted $1.2 million in export revenues for the 40 participating firms, with a goal of $3 million by mid-2023. When Sakina Usengimana the CEO of Afri Foods, joined the Export Development Programme (EDP), she didn't know what to expect. Looking back, it was a decision that changed her life. In the spirit of contributing to Rwanda’s ambition of increasing exports by 17% annually, TradeMark Africa (TMA) embarked on a 10-year EDP initiative in 2012 (implemented in two phases) to help exporters access new markets, with funding from USAID, UKaid and the Finnish Government. The second phase which began in 2017/2018 the programme was implemented in collaboration with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), and comprised 40 participating firms, 16 of which were women-led while 12 were new entrants in the export business. It focused on high export potential sectors like horticulture, ICT, and crafts. TMA, in collaboration with Dalberg Advisors, a business development advisory firm, provided technical assistance. Diane Sayinzoga, Head of Special Economic Zones and Exports at RDB, emphasised the timeliness of the intervention in supporting Rwandan exports. “The programme was well aligned with the mandate of RDB, which is to...

An atmosphere of calm welcomes you as you enter the lobby of the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA). This wasn’t always the case, according to Francois Gatete, the Director for Information Systems at RURA. Before 2019, RURA, which regulates all public utilities in Rwanda, struggled with the mundane, time-consuming manual processes of issuing out licenses, resulting in a crowded and chaotic lobby. To understand how complicated the scenario was, imagine this: a vendor would initiate a license request, but the finance department, trapped in an information void, couldn’t know, or track the progress of the application. This opaqueness made the process frustrating and inefficient, and many traders would visit RURA offices daily to follow up on the all-important piece of paper. David Butera, Programme Manager, TradeMark Africa (TMA), pointed out that a scoping exercise that sought to identify and resolve trade barriers in Rwanda highlighted RURA as one of the agencies that was still using manual processes; with traders saying this was a big problem that made trading difficult and costly. “We used to have silos in the application chain as there was no way for a team, say, finance to gain visibility on the status of the license application in the pipeline,” Gatete recalls of the disjointed processes. Trying to manually serve over 20,000 businesses led to many deadlocks both for RURA and the businesses. Innocent Twahirwa, who runs Jali Transport, remembers submitting thousands of paper forms and making numerous follow-up visits to RURA offices to get licenses for...

Growing up in Nyagatare, Rwanda, Rosette Cyarikora's childhood memories are replete with the sight of her mother skilfully producing ghee. This led her to recognise its potential for creating a sustainable family income. When she came of age, Rosette along with her friends, began packaging and selling ghee across the border in Uganda. Despite their entrepreneurial spirit, they faced legal challenges and confiscations of their merchandise, due to operating across the border without the requisite authorisation. However, their determination persisted. Their perseverance paid off when in 2016, they were introduced to the "Making Trade Work for Women" programme, launched by Pro-Femmes/Twese Hamwe, TradeMark Africa, and funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC). This initiative, sought to empower women entrepreneurs and foster an inclusive business environment. As part of the programme, Rosette and 19 other women formed the Girubuzima Cooperative. With the programme’s support, they expanded their product line to include ghee, buttermilk, and skin cream. Starting with just a litre of milk each and sheer determination, the cooperative thrived and by 2019, they were processing over 300 litres of milk weekly and selling fresh milk and dairy products in a bustling shop near a busy bus terminal. Thanks to the programme’s market linkages, they now export their products to Uganda, and were recently recognised and awarded a trophy for their innovation in dairy products, packaged in attractive, recyclable containers. Looking to the future, the women of Girubuzima are saving funds to purchase land and construct a factory, aiming to expand their...

The IOTA Foundation has stated that the initial stage of its cooperation with an East African business to facilitate paperless trading in the area has been completed successfully. The Foundation partnered with TradeMark Africa on the initiative, which aimed to modernize the continent’s supply chain’s inefficient and expensive paper-based procedures. This technique was substituted by a more effective digital approach system on the basis of IOTA’s ledger data platform, the Tangle. The Foundation collaborated with the Nairobi, Kenya-headquartered business to develop an interconnectivity technological framework that allows East African companies to “interact in a clear, safe, and immediate manner, both between themselves and with global associates.” TradeMark Africa (TMA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting regional commercial development. According to their calculations, a single transaction in Africa necessitates the completion of 96 paper based documents on average. The situation is far worse for exporters. They misplace papers because they have to distribute them physically, which contributes to inefficiencies, which are usually always pricey. Along with TMA, the IOTA Foundation is working to alter this. The Trade Logistics Information Pipeline (TLIP), which centered on the Kenyan flower business, was their initial effort. It’s among Kenya’s most important industries, and is also one of Africa’s largest. Kenya exports around 180,000 tonnes of flowers each year, or nearly seven million stems each day. Because this sort of product is very perishable, having an effective and robust distribution chain is important. This is something that TLIP has already been giving to farmers and exporters. “In...

At the onset of COVID-19, the Government of Somaliland issued directives to manage the spread of the virus. On top of complete lockdowns, curfews, and closing of borders, public health measures were enforced in most public places. Although vital in curbing the spread of the virus, these measures significantly impacted on trade particularly micro and small traders, and informal traders. The Safe Trade Zone intervention under the safe trade emergency facility endeavoured to support authorities to develop and implement a protocol that could be used in the establishment and management of safe market- places.  In partnership with AMREF Health Africa, TMA developed the Safe Trade Zone Protocol that was rolled out across selected markets in East Africa and the Horn of Africa. In Somaliland, the Tog Wajaale border was selected because of its strategic linkage to the Berbera corridor. It was anticipated that this intervention would allow traders business continuity; while giving the authorities confidence that traders and market users are safe and protected. The Tog Wajaale Safe Trade Zone market is located on the border of Somaliland and Ethiopia. 92.8KM West of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. It is the main route that connects Somaliland and Ethiopia known as Berbera Corridor. It’s a sizable city with an estimated population of about 70,450 inhabitants. In place of an old market lacking any infrastructure, a new market was built in an area of 1,800- metre square. It contains 196 stalls designed to provide for social distancing of 2.5 metres and in...